Nintendo Revolution: affordable, shipping by Thanksgiving

Nintendo will ship its next-generation games console, Revolution, in the US in time for the Thanksgiving November holiday sales period, the company's president has pledged.

Speaking to Japanese-language newspaper the Sankei Shimbun, and relayed by Gamespot, Nintendo chief, Satoru Iwata, said: "We can't disclose the Revolution's release period yet, but we have no plans to miss out on the year-end sales battle.

"As for North America, we need to release it by Thanksgiving, or otherwise we won't receive support from the retail industry. So the Revolution will be released prior to that period."

In November 2005, Nintendo signalled May 2006 as the month in which its plans for Revolution, which was unveiled in May 2005, will be disclosed. The announcement will be made just before the E3 games industry show in Los Angeles, which last year played host to the inauguration of the Xbox 360. The Microsoft console shipped the following November.

That timetable always suggested an Autumn 2006 release window for Revolution, though Nintendo's silence on the matter had encouraged some observers to forecast that the console might not appear until 2007.

Iwata wouldn't be drawn on the console's price, but he did claim it will be "affordable".

"The amount of money that people are willing to spend on video games is getting less every year," he said. "Even if it's a superb machine, it's not going to sell if it's ¥50,000 (£246/$433). We plan to make [Revolution] an affordable price." ®